A contracting business, like a marriage, often starts out well. Unfortunately, half of the marriages end in divorce. Who holds the ‘cards’ when the business deal is done? A lot could depend on how the ‘game’ is being played. Like a diploma, many contractors want to display their achievement when they get a license. Do you have too? Another contractor is ‘betting’ on work in Nevada if he can figure out what to ‘ante’ with his application…
Q: I’m a contractor in California. My wife and I created our company under both names; however she passed the license exam under her name. Now, we are separating and she wants out of the company.
I was the one working on-site and she was in charge of the administrative side. Now, she is threatening to take this license away which will leave me without work. What can I do? What will happen to the General Contractor license since it’s under her name?
A: If the license was issued to a corporation, it stays with the company. She can disassociate from the company and you, as the remaining officer, will have 90-days to replace her with a qualifying RMO or RME. During this time period, the license will remain in good standing. It may be an issue you want to bring up with your attorney, a mediator (if you’re using one) or the court.
If this is a licensed partnership and she leaves the license will be cancelled. If she holds a sole owner license, it belongs to her and according to CSLB you would not have any say over what she does. If you have the required 4 years experience (within the past 10 years), I would suggest signing up to take the license exam ASAP.
Q: We just received our contractor’s license in the mail. Are we required to post it somewhere visible to the public? Please let me know. Thank you.
A: According to B&P Section 7075, “the license shall be displayed in the licensee’s main office or chief place of business.” This being said, the law does not specify exactly where it must be displayed, although one could be assume this would be visible to the public.
Q: The Nevada Contractors License application is asking me to “State the monetary limit desired?” I want to make sure I have this correct. If I put $200,000 in this question, would this mean I could bid projects up to this dollar amount? Is this a cumulative total or per contract? Also, how does the NV Board figure out if I am eligible for this amount?
A: You’re referring to Section #8 (page 5 of 23) on the NV Contractor’s License Application. This amount is on a per project basis; meaning you can undertake one or more contracts up to this amount. You may not however, undertake a single project over this amount. For instance, using your example, you could be working on four $199,900 contracts (totaling nearly $800,000) but cannot properly bid on a contract in excess of $200,000 — the limit placed on the license by the Board’s determination. The Nevada Board wants to see your financial and bank information and utilizes formulas to determine the actual dollar amount.